Windows Vista Keeps Freezing/Crashing

[psufootball]

You're very welcome. Stop back and let us know how things work out.

I certainly will, and I plan to remain active on this forum. 

There are several versions of the .NET framework and they are all independent- that is, they are not cumulative.

there is .NET 1.0, .NET 1.1, .NET 2.0, .NET 3.0, .NET 3.5, and .NET 4.0. These correspond to various released of Visual Studio starting with the initial release of Visual Studio .NET (Visual Studio 7) through to the most recent version, 2010.

In order to run a program compiled with Visual Studio 7, you need the .NET Framework 1.0 installed. (I think they might run with 1.10) but having version 2.0, 3.5, 4.0, etc installed doesn't let it run- you must have 1.0 or 1.1 installed.

The same applies for applications compiled to run on the other frameworks. You pretty much need the same version installed on your machine.

Windows XP came with 1.0 installed (or, at least, it came with the installer for 1.0 on the CD). Windows Vista has 2.0 pre-installed, and Windows Server 2008 comes with either 3.0 or 3.5 depending on the release date.

Of course you can install even the latest version into Windows XP. Some versions can even be installed in Windows 9x.

The way I've always tended to think of it is similar to how Java is. a Java program is compiled into an otherwise useless class file that contains what is called "java bytecode" this java bytecode is interpreted by the java runtime which emulates a virtual "java" CPU. This allows the actions of the program to be monitored every step of the way and appropriate blocks and exceptions to occur when it tries to do anything it shouldn't. With Java, when you install the Java runtime, it installs two things: the runtime "program" and plugins themselves, as well as the Java Class library, which provides the base set of functionality for all java programs.

Equally, .NET programs are compiled to something called IL (Intermediate Language). The idea is to allow the programs to be optimized based on what CPU it is running on- so if you run Program X on a Super speedy hyperthreaded machine, the CLR (the Common Language Runtime) can compile the program to optimized machine code  Specifically for that processor. The same goes for nearly any other processor- the best optimizations are performed based on the current environment. The .NET Framework installs the CLR (the actual virtual machine) as well as the .NET framework classes themselves, which provide the base functionality for .NET programs.

returning to the problem at hand, "NGEN" is the "native image generator". Therefore, my guess is that the background process detects whenever a .NET program runs and compiles it from IL to native machine code on the spot and then places it in the global assembly cache. If this is the case, it is absolutely safe to remove it from your startup list, as the function it performs is purely optional.

Wow, just wow.  Thanks for the very detailed answer.  All I really knew before this was that it had to do with Visual Studio, and it's comforting to know that it's safe to remove it from the start-up list.

[BC_Programmer]

I have a tendency to be verbose. I think I'm rather infamous for it even. 

[psufootball]

F***!  Just starting having this problem again.  Guess it's back to typing msconfig and enabling things one at a time....

[johngetter]

Ignore this too.

I wouldnt work at bestbuy with helping people with there computer programs if i was stupid. I wouldnt even be here. Dont judge other people. It makes yourself look bad. You must be some fat pig on your computer having all the brains.

Dont judge its idiotic

[BC_Programmer]

I wouldnt work at bestbuy with helping people with there computer programs if i was stupid.

Actually at best buy that is one of the many qualifications.
most "Geek Squad" people are just salesmen with limited computer expertise - they're not there to fix your computer, they're there to fix your pocketbooks, by lightening the load. Half of the time they simply go to some free help site- you know, like <this> one, and get somebody to pretty much clean it for free, despite the fact that they are the ones getting paid to do it. Despicable.

And then there is of course the whole stealing of SysInternals tools a while back. Not a bunch I'd like to ever deal with.

[psufootball]

Off-topic but for the record I've walked into Best Buy quite a few times and known more about what I was buying than the employees.  Yeah to get hired you have to know about computers, but many employees there have minimal knowledge.

Anyway does anyone have any suggestions on which ones I should disable first this time?  I should have kept more careful records of it... ugh I feel so stupid...

[Allan]

I wouldnt work at bestbuy with helping people with there computer programs if i was stupid. I wouldnt even be here. Dont judge other people. It makes yourself look bad. You must be some fat pig on your computer having all the brains.

Dont judge its idiotic

1) 6' 3", 185 - war vet, ex football player, golfer, IQ 141. As usual, you're wrong.
2) Pretty much all of your posts are useless
3) Nice command of the English language

[psufootball]

I wouldnt work at bestbuy with helping people with there computer programs if i was stupid. I wouldnt even be here. Dont judge other people. It makes yourself look bad. You must be some fat pig on your computer having all the brains.

Dont judge its idiotic

Look dude, even if you were trying to help at first, what you're doing now is just getting in the way of me getting my computer fixed which was... you know... the reason I started this thread.  If you truly felt you were very knowledgeable about computers, you would know, as would the people around you.  You wouldn't need to prove it to folks on the internet.  The fact that you're trying to push upon us that you are some computer genius just because you work at Best Buy only makes your advice to me look more meaningless.   

Anyway, since other than going through trial and error there really isn't anything else to tell me, and this is already off-topic, what branch of the military did you serve in Allan?  I think the ex-football part is BS though, you already said you didn't go to PSU. 

[patio]

Ummmm  Ohio State has produced some pretty good football players....

[psufootball]

Ummmm  Ohio State has produced some pretty good football players....

Pffffffftt... not in this universe. 

[Allan]

I was in the army and I am an ex-football player, though certainly not professional nor PSU (and as much as you'd like to think otherwise, there ARE other possibilities ).. That's as much personal info as I'm going to reveal on this or any other forum

[Salmon Trout]

Forgive us non-Americans for yawning a lot and dropping off to sleep around now...

[Allan]

Forgive us non-Americans for yawning a lot and dropping off to sleep around now...

No problem 

[patio]

I was in the army and I am an ex-football player, though certainly not professional nor PSU (and as much as you'd like to think otherwise, there ARE other possibilities ).. That's as much personal info as I'm going to reveal on this or any other forum

So you went to UCLA then huh ? ?